For some general context, in an electrical power system, AGC is a software application for adjusting the power output of multiple generators at different power plants, in response to changes in load and/or power exchanges within a defined Balancing Authority (BA). One of the primary indicators of imbalance is the Area Control Error (ACE), which conventionally is calculated periodically, typically every 4 seconds. Since the electrical power grid needs to balance generation and load closely moment by moment, frequent adjustments to the output of the generators can be implicated.
For one non-limiting example, where the electrical power grid has tie lines, transmission lines interconnecting adjacent control areas, AGC helps to maintain power exchanges over those tie lines at scheduled levels. Within the computer-based EMS, the AGC application can take into account such matters as the most economical units to adjust, the coordination of thermal, hydroelectric, and other generation types, constraints related to the stability of the system and capacity of tie-lines to other electrical power grids, etc. An AGC application is thus used to maintain frequency and/or deviation(s) of power within predetermined operating standards.
However, regardless of whether the data has changed between ACE calculation intervals, conventional AGC systems periodically, e.g., every 4 seconds, poll electrical power grid data, such as data collected by Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system(s), to make ACE and other calculations based on that data, and send corresponding control signal(s) to power source(s), such as generator(s), to control power generation based on the ACE calculations, e.g., to reduce mismatch between current load and power generation where applicable. However, for example, because all of the electrical power grid data points, such as SCADA data points, handled as inputs to the AGC system are collected and/or processed for ACE or other AGC calculation(s) at every cycle of a periodic AGC processing interval, regardless of whether the electrical power grid data points have changed, a significant and wasteful burden is maintained on processing time and resources of the AGC application.
The above-described deficiencies of today's AGC applications and related technologies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional technology, and are not intended to be exhaustive, or representative. Other problems with the state of the art, and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein, may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.